Salvation Army was 'in agreement' with manure-dump at Abbotsford homeless camp

Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman apologized for the hurt the manure dumping caused the community

Photograph by: TBA
, PROVINCE

ABBOTSFORD - The Abbotsford Salvation Army was “in agreement” with the city’s plan to dump chicken manure to deter the homeless from camping across the street from their building, according to a leaked email between Abbotsford city officials.

In the email, obtained by online magazine Abbotsford Today, James Arden — acting director of park services for the city — told city manager George Murray, “I followed up with my team and the Salvation Army staff were talked to by By-Law as to our plan with the fertilizer and were in agreement.” The email was sent on June 4, the same day as the manure incident.

Hours after the incident was reported, city manager Murray responded with a blanket apology saying he took full responsibility for it. Two days later, city staff removed the manure.

Lauren Chan, a B.C. Salvation Army spokeswoman, said her organization “does not endorse, support or promote the recent dispersing of chicken manure” at the site, according to a statement emailed to Abbotsford Today late Wednesday afternoon.

Abbotsford Salvation Army spokeswoman Deb Lowell had earlier said the outreach agency had no prior knowledge of the city’s plan to dump chicken manure on the homeless camp.

In response to Arden’s June 4 email that was obtained by Abbotsford Today, Murray wrote: “This is quite often what happens in our business. Groups are 100% behind us … right until it turns to shit (rather than manure).”

The story gained international attention and two senior Abbotsford managers — economic development manager Jay Teichroeb and bylaw enforcement manager Gordon Ferguson — have since left their jobs.

On June 16, Murray told Abbotsford Today there was a meeting with a number of parties, including the Salvation Army, before the incident.

He further stated, “The Salvation Army was not involved in making the decision. The Salvation Army does not have the authority to approve city staff to undertake any work. The decision to spread the manure was made by city staff.”

The controversial move came after complaints from residents about the behaviour of homeless people in the area, with one woman saying she had become a prisoner in her own home because people were sleeping on her lawn and using her yard as a latrine.

The use of chicken manure on the homeless encampment is also raising a stink of another kind for the City of Abbotsford.

Several homeless people plan to launch lawsuits with the help of a social advocacy lawyer, wanting compensation after their property was lost or damaged when the excrement was spread over their campsite. In another incident, Abbotsford police officers are accused of damaging tents and pepper-spraying belongings.

“We’ve tried to sit around and talk and we’ve tried to ask and nothing’s happening and we’re sick and tired of waiting and obviously, they need a kick in the (butt) to get moving and that’s what we’re doing,” Doug Smith, who plans to file a small claims lawsuit for the destruction of his tent, said in an interview Wednesday.

He and others also plan to file a human rights complaint for their treatment.

Lawyer D.J. Larkin, with the Pivot Legal Society, is filing the small claims lawsuits on behalf of the residents who say they lost property in the two incidents.

She will also take on the human rights complaint.

Larkin said other B.C. cities have used the manure tactic in the past to encourage homeless campers to move on, notably Surrey in 2009 and Port Coquitlam shortly after the Abbotsford incident.

“We’ll try to get damages for, basically, the city behaving badly,” she said.

Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich has asked the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner to investigate. The department said it does not authorize or approve of its officers damaging personal property.

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